I över 50 år arbetade de båda konstnärerna Christo (1935-2020) och Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) tillsammans. Deras gigantiska och häpnadsväckande konstprojekt av stads- och landskapselement gjorde dem världsberömda. De bemästrade hela den kreativa processen från idé och dokumentation till förverkligande.
Christo och Jeanne-Claude har genom sina temporära omdaningar velat omdefiniera föremål, byggnader och landskap till konst och samtidigt uttryckt en förändring i konstens mening och livsrum. Deras konstnärliga arbeten är inte i första hand betingade av en lust att göra konstobjekt, utan drivs också av ett behov att gripa in konstnärligt i en plats och skapa en dialog med dess historia.
De temporära installationer som verken i sig utgörs av är resultatet av åratal av förberedelser där metodiken och den kreativa processen fångas av de skisser, fotografier samt collage som kommit att bli regelrätta konstverk i sig. De har alla ett eget värde och dokumenterar projektets konstnärliga utveckling. På Christo och Jeanne-Claudes hemsida går att läsa följande om projektet ” The Mastaba”:
“The Mastaba, a project for Abu Dhabi, was conceived in 1977. It will be the largest contemporary sculpture (in volume) in the world, made from 410,000 multi-colored barrels to form a colorful mosaic, echoing Islamic architecture.
The Mastaba will be 150 meters (492 feet) high, 300 meters (984 feet) long at the vertical walls and 225 meters (738 feet) wide at the 60 degree slanted walls. The colors and the positioning of the 55-gallon steel barrels were selected by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1979, the year in which the artists visited the United Arab Emirates for the first time.
The proposed location is inland, approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the city of Abu Dhabi in the desert of Liwa.
In 2007 and 2008, Christo and Jeanne-Claude contracted professors of engineering from ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US, Cambridge University in the UK and Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, to prepare structural feasibility studies about The Mastaba. All four teams worked independently and did not know of each other.
The artists then hired the German engineering firm, schlaich bergermann partner, in Stuttgart, to analyze these reports. The Hosei University concept was found to be the most technically sound and innovative. Once government approval is granted, the construction period will take at least three years. The entire substructure as well as the layer of barrels will be assembled flat on the ground. Ten elevation towers will make it possible to raise the entire structure on rails to its final position in about two weeks.
In 2012, Christo commissioned Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Albright Stonebridge Group to conduct analyses on the social and economic benefits of The Mastaba. Like all of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's projects, The Mastaba will be self-financed and will not require government funding.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude's relationship with Abu Dhabi goes back to 1979 when they first visited the Emirate. They have returned many times since, creating a longstanding friendship with the people of Abu Dhabi.
The Mastaba will be Christo and Jeanne-Claude's only permanent, large-scale public artwork, and also their final project. Per Christo's wishes, The Mastaba will be carried out by his nephew Vladimir Yavachev, who has worked with the artists for over three decades and most recently directed L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped”